American Express Platinum Travel Insurance

The American Express Platinum Card is one of the best travel credit cards in Canada due to its generous signup bonus, hotel status upgrades, unlimited airport lounge access and the flexibility that comes with American Express Membership Rewards. Another incredible feature is the travel insurance that comes with the card since the terms and payouts are quite generous.

One major thing to note about your American Express Platinum travel insurance, with the exception of emergency medical insurance, you need to charge the majority of your travel expenses (transportation and accommodations) to your Amex Platinum card for the insurance to be valid. I should also mention that policy details could change at any time, so be sure to read the fine print. Continue now for the Amex platinum travel insurance details.

Emergency Medical Insurance	$5,000,000 - 15 days / Under 65
Trip Cancellation Insurance	$2,500 per person / $5,000 total
Trip Interruption Insurance	$2,500 per person / $6,000 total
Flight Delay Insurance	$1,000 - 4 hours +
Baggage Delay Insurance	$1,000 - 6 hours +
Lost or Stolen Baggage Insurance	$1,000 combined per occurrence
Car Rental Theft Damage Insurance	$85,000 - 48 days
Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance	$1,000 per occurrence
Travel Accident Insurance	Up to $500,000

American Express Platinum Benefits

Before I get into the details of the Amex Platinum travel insurance, I just wanted to go over the benefits of the card.

Although the annual fee of $699 is steep, the card comes packed with benefits. You can convert your American Express Membership Rewards points to Aeroplan or Marriott Rewards which can be quite valuable to some people.  

Emergency medical insurance

Your American Express Platinum travel insurance provides emergency medical insurance while you’re travelling outside of your Canadian providence or territory of residence. Those under the age of 65 get 15 consecutive days per trip, up to a maximum of $5,000,000. There is no coverage for those over aged 65+. Note that with emergency medical insurance, you’re still covered even if you don’t charge your trip expenses to your credit card. You get the insurance just for being a cardholder

Trip cancellation insurance

Your trip cancellation provides coverage up to $2,500 per insured person to a maximum coverage up to $5,000 for al insured persons combined. This insurance only covers the non-refundable pre-paid costs and would only apply for a covered reason. The covered reasons are very specific, so you can’t just cancel the trip because you don’t feel like going anymore. Please refer to your policy details for the list of covered reasons.

Trip Interruption Insurance

If your trip is interrupted or delayed for a covered reason, your American Express travel insurance covers you up to $2,500 per trip per insured person up to a maximum of $6,000 for all insured persons combined. The insurance only applies to the non-refundable unused portion of your prepaid travel arrangements. That means if you have a fully refundable hotel that you can cancel, you would not be covered for that (since you haven’t lost anything). If they charge a cancellation fee, you would be reimbursed for that.

Flight delay insurance

As long as you charge your ticket to your Platinum card, you’ll get up to $1,000 coverage (maximum combined with Baggage Delay Insurance) after a four hour delay for any necessary and reasonable expenses which includes accommodations, meals, and sundry items purchased within 48 hours of the delay.

Baggage delay insurance

As mentioned, the baggage delay insurance of up to $1,000 of all immediate daily reasonable and necessary emergency purchases made within four days is combined with your flight delay insurance. There is a six hour delay required before you can purchase essential clothing and sundry items. Keep in mind that with both flight and baggage delay insurance, your American Express travel insurance requires you to call and open a case before making a claim. Make sure you save all your receipts as you’ll need them later to be reimbursed.

Lost or stolen baggage insurance

The American Express platinum benefits also include lost or stolen baggage insurance which covers your belongings from loss or damage up to $1,000 per trip for all insured person(s) combined. As you can imagine, it’s in your best interest to keep any valuables you have in your carry-on where you can keep a closer eye on it.

Car rental theft damage insurance

When renting a car, your American Express travel insurance covers you for damage or theft of your rental car with an MSRP of up to $85,000. That means any car above that price point won’t be covered. To qualify for your insurance, you must decline the Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) or similar option offered by the car rental company. This insurance does not cover you for third party liability insurance. That’s when someone sues you if they were injured in an accident due to your fault. Your home auto insurance may already include this and some rental agencies have some third-party insurance as default, so make sure you check your policies.

Hotel/motel burglary insurance

If your hotel/motel is burglarized and your personal items are lost or damaged, you’re covered up to $1,000 as part of your American Express Platinum travel insurance package. You must charge the entire amount of your accommodations to your Platinum card for this insurance to be valid.

Travel accident insurance

Here’s one of your American Express Platinum travel insurance benefits that I hope you or your family never have to claim. If you, your spouse and dependent children under the age of 23 when any of you travel on a common carrier (plane, train, bus or ship) were to suffer accidental death or dismemberment, you or your beneficiaries would receive up to $500,000. As an added “benefit,” additional cardmembers, their spouses and dependent children under age 23 are also covered.